What are your IBS numbers?

In January, I set an intention to help all of you improve your IBS and get better by the end of the the year (with your help, of course) so today I want to talk numbers – specifically your personal IBS numbers.

Sometimes with chronic conditions the struggle feels indefinite. You stop being able to imagine a time when you didn’t feel terrible and exhausted and frustrated, and start to believe that the terribleness is just the new normal.

But the truth is, IBS is not a forever thing (I’ll keep saying this over and over to cement it in your brain) and in order to live your best life, you’ll want to keep your personal IBS numbers as low as possible.

I’d like you to take a few minutes and put a number to each of these questions:

– How many years ago were you officially diagnosed with IBS?– How many years have you had digestive symptoms?Take these numbers and multiply them by 365. That’s how many days you’ve been struggling with your IBS.

– How many times a day do you worry about your IBS?– How many times a day are you in the bathroom?– How many times a day do you have diarrhea, IBS-D?– How many days a week do you go without pooing, IBS-C?– How many hours of the day are you bloated? In pain?– How many hours of night sleep do you lose because of your IBS worry or pain?– How many times a month do you skip out on social gatherings because of your IBS?These numbers are growing now, aren’t they.

– How old are you now?– How many more years until you retire?– How many more years until you turn 90?– How many more years of IBS struggle can you live with before you no longer feel like yourself?

We’re now in day 39 of 2019 so there’s 326 more days to end your IBS story by the end of the year…IF you take action now.

So…how many more days before you take decisive action to get better for good? When you’re 90, the only numbers that’ll matters will be the ones starting from Day 1 of IBS recovery: the day you reset your clock and you got your life back.